


Consultation

by Joh-Nny-C (Heart_Wrenchers)



Series: Tenderness (EdNny) [1]
Category: Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Canon-Typical Violence, Dissociation, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Illustrations, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, No Smut, Obsession, Obsessive Behavior, Post-Canon, Religious Discussion, Slow Burn, Stalking, time loss, yet?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:48:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24721102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heart_Wrenchers/pseuds/Joh-Nny-C
Summary: Johnny decided to let Edgar go and figured he'd never see him again.Yet, a nagging voice pulls his thought to The One He Let Go.He loses time and finds himself in an unfamiliar club with a familiar face.Part 1 of the Tenderness series.
Relationships: Johnny "Nny" C./Edgar Vargas
Series: Tenderness (EdNny) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787368
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	1. The Last Lie I Told

**Author's Note:**

> 6/14/2020 - Wrote this all in one go with no sleep and mild editing. Will properly iron this out soon, once I've gotten a little rest.  
> Basically this is a concept draft with some concept art.

_“What am I doing here?”_

Deep bass pulsated through Johnny’s chest rhythmically. He drifted through the crowd as if a wisp of smoke from one of the many cigarettes. Colorful strobes cast across the mildly erratic crowd of dancers on the floor. He didn’t recall how he had arrived there, or what he was searching for as he weaved. A pressure built in his head as he struggled to reclaim his lost time. There had to be some clue as to why he had wandered there, practically unarmed no less. He felt his right hip, confirming his most trusted knife still fastened in place.

_“We’re really in it this time, huh Sig?”_

Mere moments after Johnny finished the thought a face caught his attention. At the far back wall, a tall man leaned casually over a table. He braced the surface and looked over the crowd with equal calm. The drink by his wrist had hardly been touched judging by the sweat streaking down its side that glistened along with the cross around his neck and the glare across his circular frames. 

_“No, there has to be another reason.”_

Before Nny could regain himself he locked eyes with the man. Even from where he stook he could keenly spy those stark blue eyes, glassy and placid as ever. The man straightened up to clear his throat. Before he knew it, Johnny found himself on autopilot once again.

“Is there a _reason_ you have been tailing me?” The taller man asked, though his tone denoted he already had the answer made up in his mind.

“Edgar, I-” Nny sputtered out. He staggered slightly, bracing himself on the table. Ed’s glass swayed slightly, ice clanking against the sides of the container. “I would have thought you left town. Or, at the very least, would have lost me in this crowd.”

“Because you think I would be afraid to face you in a place like this? Or at all? I stand by what I said then.” He gripped his glass, tapping his finger against the side for a few harsh seconds. “So, have you come here because you changed your mind?”

Nny watched him throw back the drink. He fidgeted with the hem of his left sleeve, eyes cast down and to the side. His brows pressed in strained thought while he sorted through the wave of thoughts and emotions washing over his rigid frame. “About sparing you? Yes- I mean, no. I- Edgar, I genuinely don’t want to kill you. Someone _really_ needs to fuck up for me to change my mind like that… Or, by some divine intervention, they _escape._ ” He snuffed those thoughts quickly.

_“... Stop being spiteful…”_

_“Shut up.”_

_“... Don’t say something you’ll regret…”_

“Shut up!” Nny snapped aloud, catching Edgar off guard.

“I didn’t… Say anything yet?” Ed replied cautiously. “Come on, let's step outside.” Edgar began to the nearest exit, and Nny wordlessly trailed behind.

  
  


Edgar drew in the crisp winter air. It was an unusually chilled night in So-Cal, but one he gladly received. When Johnny joined him his gaze didn’t break from where they had fixated ahead. Both wore dark coats; Nny’s in black and Ed’s in forest green. Nny kicked a rock across the parking lot. Both stood in silence for nearly a minute.

“If you aren’t going to kill me, what are you doing out here?” Edgar finally muttered. His fixed gaze faltered for a moment to glance down to his previous captor. He hadn’t noticed before that Nny was nearly half a foot shorter than he was. Somehow that lithe man managed to knock him out and transport him to his weird torture dungeon. These thoughts steeled Edgar’s focus once again.

Nny offered a shrug, gaze still cast down. “I… I don’t remember.” He mumbled back. 

“Bullshit,” Edgar snapped before composing himself again. “You don’t just follow someone eight blocks and into a club _accidentally_.”

Johnny mulled it over further. “I must have gotten turned around. Or-” He drew in a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. My mind is still foggy… I should head home. I don’t… Need anything.” Once again his body pulled forward without any thought behind the motion or direction. His step staggered sluggishly as he descended into the dark alley nearby.

All Edgar did was watch him go. Once the strange man had left his sight he turned and headed off in the opposite direction. Something nagged at him that this wouldn’t be their last meeting.


	2. Shadow Stabbing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The song for this chapter is "Shadow Stabbing" by Cake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsL1wgy1j-Q
> 
> ALSO! S/O to xxcrelisexx on Tumblr for this wonderful fanart of chapter 1! https://xxcrelisexx.tumblr.com/post/621093895372193792

Edgar settled back down in his seat, coffee in hand. With his usual cafe closed for remodeling, he decided a change of setting would do him good anyway. He decided on a quiet place close to the edge of town. Playful bossa nova was soon replaced with the quiet rumble of rain noise. Editorial work wasn't the most interesting, but it got him steady enough pay with minimal human interaction. 

He nearly reached the halfway mark of his assignment by the time noon rolled around. With the completion of that page, he figured it was the perfect point for a break. Edgar clicked open his journal file.

"1/18 - Today hasn't brought anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps he finally decided to leave me alone." 

The last dozen or so entries made mention of his previous captor. Over a year and a half since his life had been spared on a whim and only four months since the sighting began. He already considered himself lucky, but the event only cemented him deeper into his faith. What other reason for his survival could it have been that divine intervention?

"I do not know what that man is. He's not of Heaven or Hell, anyway. Ever since we talked the other day I've been certain of that. When I met to him that first time… It was almost like his soul was restless. Now I feel like he doesn't have a soul at all." Even as he wrote those words he felt no fear or disgust ruse within him. If anything, curiosity sprang into his heart. This curiosity nagged in his skull through the next hour. 

With one more edited chapter behind him, he transitioned to a different project; this one being more personal. Edgar had been drafting a book for months, though it wasn't until recently that he found his drive to begin it. The next time his concentration broke the clock had already cast past four in the afternoon.

  
  


Palm frons wisped in the evening breeze. Crisp winter air was always welcome for Ed. As he walked he recalled every word of the event so many months ago. What was running through them once more?

Cold concrete walls. A single light that flickered. A drain stained and streaked not with water, but blood. Damp concrete and fresh blood created a unique smell he had not come across before or since. Ed found himself rubbing his left wrist. The device restraining him that day cut deep down enough to leave scars. He could remember how genuinely Johnny smiled, and how his expression strained as he worked through his morals and obligations. 

Edgar’s head felt heavy by the time he made it to his neighborhood. He had just pulled his keys from his bag when he nearly tripped. On his doorstep laid a package. It was soft and wrapped in black paper. The lack of address indicated it must have been dropped off in person. Without a second thought, he took the package inside. 

He settled at the kitchen table with a fresh mug of tea. Curiosity bubbled within him once again as he carefully untied the binding twine and unwrapped the paper. At the top of the contents was a small note simply reading “I think this is yours.” 

  
Underneath was a thick, soft black coat. He recognized it to be the one removed from his person the night he was snatched. In one pocket he found a note from a previous editorial client. In the other had been placed a pen sketch of himself. He wore a striped scarf and sweater matching what he had actually been wearing that day.

  
“Well, that's… flattering in probably the creepiest way possible.” Ed mumbled to himself. He set the picture on his desk before taking the coat to his room. Edgar decided to turn in early for bed. He could process that later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to come out! My schedule should be more consistent now.  
> The next chapters should also have art again!
> 
> Chapter 3 will (hopefully!) be out by next week!


End file.
